This is such an amazing, delightful little book.

An epistolary novel featuring real-life exchange of letters between Helene Hanff and Mr. Frank Doel, chief buyer at an antiquarian bookshop, which resulted in some more exchanges between Hanff and other employees of the bookshop, cementing a bond of a lifetime of selfless friendship, the letters display how a little generosity displayed by Hanff during the post World War II food shortages in Britain and a few other occasions, bridged distances of miles and miles.

The exchanges are so interesting - it is a treat for anyone who hoards books, loves those leather bound, gold-leafed ones - for anyone who loves the idea of owning the books and understands the significance of having only certain editions or certain styled books. The letters are a mix of humor, sarcasm, concern, puns, loads of gift exchanges for Christmas, birthdays, includes references of Queen Elizabeth's crowning. They date from 1949 to 1969 - 20+ years of a noble attachment.

It is highly recommended and I am sure it will not disappoint you.

P.S. : I so long to find a bookshop like Marks & Co. that has a person like Frank Doel. I never felt so vehemently before about the scarcity of a proper bookshop run by a fellow book-lover.